


Book 4/ oL JclA 


Copight'N°_jHa 


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JERRY’S REWARD 





(See page 21 ) 


SHOUTING 



Hosg Horner .Series 

JERRY’S 

REWARD 


By 

Evelyn Snead Barnett 


Illustrated by 

Etheldred B. Barry 



Boston jA jA jA jA 
L. C. Page & Company 
jA jA jA ^A lyOJ 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
"T«o Copies Received 



MAY. 31 1902 


/ 



CLASS ^XXo. No. 

y3 i- ^ 6 

copy b. 


Copyright, igoo , i go i 
By E. S. Barnett 

Copyright , igc>2 
L. C. Page & Company 

(incorporated) 

All rights reserved 


Published, May, 1902 


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Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. 
Boston, Mass., U. S.A. 



CHAPTER 

I. 

The Interrupted Game 


PAGE 

1 I 

II. 

The Shadow 

, 

16 

III. 

Paddy and Peggy . 


22 

IV. 

Hard Times 


28 

V. 

Peggy Overhears a Startling 

CON- 



versation 


35 

VI. 

The Police are Summoned . 


4 i 

VII. 

Where Was Peggy? 


49 

VIII. 

Luck in Disguise . . . . 


58 

IX. 

Paddy Makes the Effort of 

His 



Life 


66 




PAGE 


“ They never saw the old fellow without 

shouting (See page 21) . . Frontispiece 


“ They stood in a long row ”... 
“ He turned around suddenly ” 

“ £ The top of the mornin’ to ye ’ ” 

“ All the children except the babies 

STARTED FOR SCHOOL” . 

“ Although she was warmly clad, the rush 

OF COLD AIR MADE HER SHIVER ” 

‘“What on earth are you doing here 


13 

19 

24 

29 

39 


alone ? ’ ” 44 


“ A STURDY LEG EMERGING FROM HIS FRONT 

WINDOW ” 53 

“ Around his tanned and wrinkled neck 

WENT HER WHITE ARMS ” . . . .64 

“ After them followed the nurses, carry- 

73 


ING THE BABIES 


























































JERRY’S REWARD 


CHAPTER I. 

THE INTERRUPTED GAME 

Jefferson Square was a short street in 
Gamins ville, occupying just one block. It took 
only two things on one side of it to fill up the 
space from corner to corner. One was the 
Convent of the Good Shepherd, built on a large 
lot surrounded by a high brick wall ; the other, 
a common where all the people around dumped 
cinders, rags, tin cans — in fact, anything on 
earth they wished to throw away. On the 
other side were dwelling-houses, and these 
were filled with children — lots of them. There 
surely were never so many children on one 
square before! 


ii 


12 


jerry’s reward 


There were the Earlys, the Rickersons, the 
Bakers, the Adamses, the Mortons, and the 
Longs — twenty-one in all. 

There were really twenty-eight ; but the 
parents of seven children, though they were 
not what you might call poor, were not well- 
born like the others, so nobody counted them 
any more than they included them in the games 
that the twenty-one played. This was sad for 
the seven little outcasts, but the others never 
thought about that. 

The twenty-one had splendid times together. 
It was play, play, play for ever — dolls, pin 
fairs, circuses, and games. Every afternoon 
they gathered in the Mortons’ front gate, be- 
cause it was wider and had three stone steps 
leading down from it, where all the children 
could sit. 

One evening, the latter part of August, the 
sun had dipped down behind the world, leav- 
ing red splashes over a green sky. On seeing 
it the children played fast and furiously, for 
they knew only too well that when the sky 
looked like that they might at any moment be 
called indoors, made to eat their suppers and 
go to bed. 


THE INTERRUPTED GAME 


13 


The oldest child of the lot was Henry Clay 
Morton. He was one of those boys who try 
to have their way in everything, and generally 
succeed; so, on this particular evening when 
he got tired playing “ Grammammy Gray ” 
and proposed “ Lost My Handkerchief,” the 



others consented without any fuss. The next 
thing to decide was who should be “ ole man.” 
They stood in a long row, and Henry Clay, 
pointing, began at the top and gave each child 
a word like this : 


Eeny, meany, miny, mo ; 
Cracky, feeny, finy fo ; 


14 


jerry’s reward 


Ommer neutcha, popper teucha ; 

Rick, bick, ban, do. 

“ Oner-ry, oer-ry, ickery Ann ; 

Phyllis and Phollis and Nicholas John; 

Queevy quavy, English Navy, 

Stinklum, stanklum, BUCK.” 

“ Buck ” was “ ole man,” and on this occa- 
sion happened to be Addison Gravison Ricker- 
son, a little pudgy boy who was called “ Addy 
Gravvy ” for short. He took a handkerchief, 
and the children, joining hands, formed a big 
circle. Then skipping behind them he sang: 

“ Lost my hankshuff yesterday, 

Found it to-day, 

Filled it full ’er water, 

En dashed it away.” 

He sang the words twice, and then he let 
the handkerchief fall behind little Nell Morton, 
but she was watching, so she grabbed it and 
chased Addy Gravvy, trying to catch him be- 
fore he could get round the circle into her 
place. He ran so fast he would have beaten 
her had not Willie Baker stuck out his foot, 
tripping him up so that little Nell easily caught 
him. 


THE INTERRUPTED GAME 


15 


Addy Gravvy protested : “ That’s no fair, 
I won’t go in the middle.” For whoever got 
caught had to go in the middle until the close 
of the game. 

“ She is so little,” explained Willie, “ that 
she never could have caught anybody.” 

“ Then she oughtn't to play,” said Addy 
Gravvy. 

At this the children all began talking at 
once, for Nell was a favourite, and matters 
were looking serious, when suddenly a shadow 
crossed the bar of light made by the Mortons’ 
open front door. 

“ Paddy ! ” “ Paddy ! ” cried a dozen fright- 
ened ones, and the little group took to their 
heels. 

In two minutes the street was as silent as 
midnight, the only person left being a little 
old man whose back was bent almost double. 
He turned and looked after the children and 
gave a long, deep sigh. 


CHAPTER II. 


THE SHADOW 

Of course you wish to know all about the 
crooked man whose very shadow caused the 
children to stop their play and scamper to 
their homes. 

You remember I told you that one side of 
Jefferson Square was occupied by the Convent 
of the Good Shepherd and the common? Well, 
this convent was a source of much interest and 
not a little awe to the children. They were 
always curious to know what was going on 
behind those high brick walls. 

Nothing in the shape of a man, except the 
priests, was ever allowed inside the convent. 
You can judge, then, of the flutter it caused 
when one day at noon, as the children from 
their windows opposite were watching the 
penitents playing in the garden in their blue 
16 


THE SHADOW 


17 

dresses and white caps, they saw a little man 
go boldly in their midst and with a shovel 
begin turning up the soil. 

To be sure he was old and ugly; his back 
was bent like a hoop, and his long nose almost 
touched his toes as he leaned over his shovel 
— but all the same he was a man. 

“ I wonder who on earth he can be ! ” said 
Fanny Morton, and the nurse who was peering 
over her head thoughtlessly replied: 

“ One of Satan’s own imps.” 

They did not see the newcomer for a long 
time after, then one morning the word passed 
that he was there. This time the big iron 
gates at the side were open, and he was wheel- 
ing barrows of coal into the convent cellar. 

The next meeting was on the common 
where he was raking over old rubbish and 
abstracting rags and bits of iron. The children 
were about to speak to him when something 
in his brown and wrinkled face recalled the 
nurse-girl’s remark about “ Satan’s imps,” 
so they were afraid and ran home. 

I do not know who started it, but soon he 
came to be known as “ Paddy on the Turn- 
pike,” and just what this meant would be 


1 8 jerry’s reward 

hard to say. While we all know that Paddys 
are common enough in cities, still there wasn’t 
a turnpike for this one to be on within five 
miles of Jefferson Square. 

Although the children were afraid of the old 
man, they could not help teasing him whenever 
they got a chance. It seemed reckless and 
brave to shout out something and then take 
to their heels. They dared not come too near, 
for the same nurse-girl, seeing the sensation 
that her first remark had created, added another 
more astonishing, to the effect that Paddy had 
traded his soul to the devil, and was hunting 
the rubbish on the common over, for sufficient 
money to buy it back. Which was, of course, 
sheer nonsense, and if the children had been 
as good as all children should be, they never 
for a moment would have believed such a 
stupid untruth. 

By degrees they grew bolder. They would 
creep behind when he was bending over his 
ash pile, nearer and nearer. Then they would 
shout something about the devil and his bar- 
tered soul, thinking they were brave indeed. 
Once they approached so near that they almost 
touched him, but he turned around suddenly 





HE TURNED AROUND SUDDENLY. 




' 














THE SHADOW 


21 


and reached out his rake as if he were going 
to rake them all in. At this a panic seized 
them, and they ran like young deer. 

Finally Henry Clay Morton made a rhyme 
about him, and the others took it up. They 
never saw the old fellow without shouting to 
a sing-song tune that they had made them- 
selves : 

“ Paddy on the Turnpike 
Couldn’t count eleven, 

Put him on a leather bed, 

Thought he was in Heaven.” 


CHAPTER III. 

PADDY AND PEGGY 

Not seeming to hear the children, the old 
man used to work in silence, gathering the 
bottles and rags and things and putting them 
in his bag. Once a week he sold all he had 
found and brought the money home to his 
wife. 

Now Paddy and his wife lived in a little 
cottage on the far side of the common. And 
Paddy’s wife was always sick. The poor 
woman had had a terrible accident in which 
she had been so badly crushed and twisted 
that she was never free from pain a single 
moment. 

Paddy would rise early in the morning, 
and, before he left to go to his work, he would 
put her in her chair by the window so that she 
could look out on the common, and here she 
sat knitting socks all day long. 


22 


PADDY AND PEGGY 


23 


She did not know many people, so she was 
much alone. None of the neighbours in Jeffer- 
son Square were aware that such a person as 
Mrs. Paddy existed, though they might have 
seen her, if they had taken the trouble, every 
time they looked out of a front window; for 
she lived in plain view of all the dwellings on 
the Square. 

But though none of the “ well-bred ” people 
ever knew of Mrs. Paddy’s existence, some- 
times the mother of the little outcasts who were 
too common to be the associates of fine ladies 
would drop in “ to straighten things up a bit.” 

“ Well, Mrs. Myer,” she would say, “ the 
top of the mornin’ to ye. It’s to market I’ve 
just been and the butcher sent ye a posy,” and 
she would put a gay flower or two in the blue 
glass vase that stood on the sick woman’s win- 
dow-sill. 

Or maybe one of the little outcasts would 
bring a bowl of steaming soup. “ Mother 
thought you might like something to warm 
you up inside,” the child would say, and Mrs. 
Paddy, unknown and unknowing of the fine 
world, would kiss and thank her with a smile 
that she must have learned from the angels. 


24 


JERRY S REWARD 


But no other soul ever visited Mrs. Paddy, 
and knitting at her window, she led a solitary 
life indeed. 



And the whole heart of Mrs. Paddy was 
bound up in Paddy, strange as that may seem. 
But, you must know, Paddy was a very differ- 


PADDY AND PEGGY 


25 


ent sort of a person from what the children 
imagined him. No matter what she was suf- 
fering, Mrs. Paddy had always a bright look 
for him, while, with her, Paddy would grow 
so tender and his knotty features would smooth 
out so, the children never would have recog- 
nised him. 

And Paddy’s thousand attentions could only 
have been prompted by a loving heart. He 
even grudged every penny that he had to 
spend on himself; and indeed he had often 
gone hungry that his Peggy might have some 
little comfort. 

You see, before she was hurt — before that 
dreadful day when the heavy four-horse team 
knocked her down and all but crushed the life 
out of her — he used to spend most of his earn- 
ings in drink. In fact, to tell you the honest 
truth, he was almost always drunk. And 
sometimes — it makes the tears come into his 
eyes to think of it now — he used to beat her. 
When he was drunk, you know; never except 
when liquor had stolen his brains. 

Well, after she was brought in mangled and 
bleeding, he was so sorry he had ever treated 
her unkindly that he nearly lost his mind. 


26 


jerry’s reward 


He prayed to God to let her stay with him 
long enough for him to prove how much he 
really loved her. 

Afterwards when she lived, although but a 
crippled, suffering being, he was so afraid that 
he might forget himself and abuse her again, 
that he never touched a drop of anything 
stronger than coffee. The poor woman used 
to say that it was worth all the pain, and 
more, too, to have her husband always him- 
self. 

Giving up strong drink was not an easy 
task for him, and he often wanted it; but he 
shunned the society of his drinking friends, 
and never once went where he would be 
tempted. 

He pretended not to hear the children’s teas- 
ing, but it was only pretence. You see, he 
loved children dearly. He once had two little 
ones of his own, but God took them. For their 
dear sakes he had tender feelings toward all 
children, and it hurt him that these on Jefferson 
Square should run away from him every time 
he came near. 

He also disliked their name for him ; for his 
real name was Jerry, not Paddy at all. He 


PADDY AND PEGGY 


27 


could not help telling his Peggy about it, espe- 
cially when they had been unusually thought- 
less and teasing. 

It was after one of such times that he said 
to her : “ I think I’ll have a little speech with 
’em. I’ll tell ’em that far from wanting to 
hurt ’em, I’ll be their friend if they’ll let me.” 

“ Do, lovey,” replied Mrs. Peggy, “ for I’m 
hatin’ to have ’em misjudge you.” 

So the very next day he pretended to be 
raking and sifting until they came nearer and 
nearer shouting their jibes and their jeers, 
when he quickly turned around and facing them 
began his speech : 

“ Don’t fear me, chil — ” was all the fur- 
ther he got when the rosy cheeks became as 
white as sheets and such scampering and rush- 
ing over one another you never saw in all your 
life. 

After that it was three whole days before 
a single one of them was bold enough to come 
even in sight when he was bending over his 
work, and he missed them so that he resolved 
never to attempt any conversation with them 
again as long as he lived. 


CHAPTER IV. 


HARD TIMES 

Things went on in this manner for some 
time. Then the hot summer was over and the 
green leaves died and fell to the ground with 
a rustle. All the children except the babies 
started to school. It became too cold to play 
out-of-doors in the afternoon, and soon the 
days got so short that there were no afternoons, 
and the children forgot it ever had been sum- 
mer at all. 

If a body had not already known it, he would 
never have guessed that the row of houses on 
one side of Jefferson Square contained twenty- 
eight children toasting their toes by blazing 
fires. 

We should say twenty-one, for the entire 
family of outcasts had moved from the square 
to a more congenial neighbourhood, and Mrs. 
Paddy lost the only friends she had. Instead 

28 



“ ALL THE CHILDREN EXCEPT THE BABIES STARTED 

TO SCHOOL.” 



HARD TIMES 


31 


of the bright faces smiling and nodding to her 
every time they went in or out the front door, 
an ugly white card, with “ For Rent ” in big 
black letters, stared at her all day, reminding 
her sadly of the friends who were gone. 

Paddy noticed her looking a little forlorn 
one morning, so he said : 

“ The cold weather doesn’t agree with you, 
Peggy; there’s too much air coming through 
the window cracks. I’ll just move your chair 
away from it, and as close to the fire as 
may be.” 

He had to leave her alone a great deal those 
days, for bread was high and work scarce. To 
get either, a man had to start early so as to be 
handy for any odd jobs that came his way. 

Peggy was sometimes so lonely that she 
missed even the naughty children, for in sum- 
mer when they played on the common she 
could hear their young voices and it was com- 
pany for her. Now all she could see was a 
bare brown waste with never a child in sight. 

When Paddy was there bending over his 
ash heaps she didn’t care, for every little while 
he would look up from his work, and wave his 
hand, and that was all she wanted. 


32 


jerry’s reward 


Things got very desperate with the Paddys. 
Money became so scarce that they couldn’t buy 
coal, but had to use half-burned cinders from 
the common instead. Peggy declared that they 
made a “ real hot fire,” and she would joke 
about their large coal cellar — meaning the 
common — “ that never got empty — only 
fuller and fuller.” 

Paddy would come in shivering and shaking 
in his threadbare coat. 

“ And are you frozen entirely ? ” she would 
ask. 

And he would answer : “ I was mortal cold, 
but the sight of your gentle face has warmed 
my blood. Faith, it’s better than all the fires ! ” 

Whenever the sun came out she would make 
him take her to the window where she could 
warm herself in its rays. When her husband 
was working at the ash piles she would wave 
to him. 

“ On those days,” said Paddy, “ I always 
have luck. The people throw out more rags, 
and the cinders are in big lumps and only half 
burned.” 

Whenever he made a good find he waved his 
hand to her, but one day he waved both hands 


HARD TIMES 


33 


and his cap, and she knew he had been 
unusually fortunate. 

He came straight in to show her. He had 
found a big silver dollar. It was tarnished and 
black from the flames, but it was a good one 
with a true ring. 

“ Whose can it be, I wonder ! ” exclaimed 
Peggy- 

“If I knew I’d have to take it back,” an- 
swered Paddy, “ but, unfortunately, people 
don’t often leave their visiting cards on their 
ash heaps.” 

This was not all. The very day after he 
found the dollar, Peggy, from her window, 
saw more frantic waving. 

This time it was a silver spoon !. 

“ I can find the owner of that, I’m sure,” 
says Paddy. And he made the rounds of all 
the houses in the neighbourhood to see if 
they were missing any spoons, but nobody 
claimed it. 

Peggy cleaned it and made it shine like new. 
At first she didn’t like to use it — it was so 
beautiful — but her husband persuaded her 
that as long as they couldn’t sell it, seeing that 
the owner might be found some day, she had 


34 


jerry’s reward 


better get the good of it. So she yielded, and 
declared that the soup had an extra richness 
all on account of the silver. 

“ It’s luck coming our way, dear,” says 
Paddy. “ Money in our pockets and a silver 
spoon in our mouths — you’ll see.” 

And it was so; though at first it took such 
a round-about path — a little way luck has — 
that they quite mistook it for something else. 


CHAPTER V. 


PEGGY OVERHEARS A STARTLING 
CONVERSATION 

One cold morning in January Paddy built 
up a good fire, and, putting Peggy in her wheel 
chair, he placed everything in reach that she 
could possibly need. 

“ I’ll not be back before dark, dearie,” he 
said, “ for outside of my convent work I have 
a job at the wharf that will keep me all the 
day.” With this he kissed her on each pale 
cheek and on her sweet, patient mouth, and left. 

The little cottage in which the Paddys lived, 
you will remember, was on the far side of the 
common. Behind it ran an alley where all 
. sorts of people lived, — negroes, beggars, 
tramps, all of them poor and some of them 
desperate. 

Peggy’s cottage was at one end of the row, 
and the convent wall was built up close to the 
35 


3 ^ 


jerry’s reward 


side of it, leaving a space just wide enough for 
one person to squeeze through. The walls of 
the cottage were so thin that whenever the 
children hid in the narrow passage during their 
play, the sick woman inside could hear every 
word they said — could almost hear them 
breathe. 

On the morning in question Peggy was sit- 
ting by her fire knitting so fast that you could 
not tell needles from fingers nor fingers from 
needles, when she heard the sound of talking 
between the cottage and the convent wall. She 
could tell that the speakers were men. 

“ Now, why have they crept in that narrow 
crack to talk ? ” she mused. 

A low voice said : 

“ Are you sure she’ll not go back on us ? ” 

Another answered: 

“ She’s safe enough ; I’ve fixed her.” 

“ Listen to me,” said the first voice ; “ you 
are to bring a bundle to the side door at five 
o’clock. The nurse will let you in, and show 
you the closet under the staircase. There you’ll 
stay until the house is locked up and everything 
settled for the night. After the children are 
asleep and the grown people quieted by the 


A STARTLING CONVERSATION 


37 


drugged coffee — say when the convent bell 
strikes ten — you will slip out and, unlocking 
the side door, let me in. I have a plan of the 
house, and know where everything of value is 
kept. We’ll get a good, rich pull, and skip.” 

“ You’re certain no harm will come from 
spiking the drink ? ” 

“ Not if she obeys orders; it’ll give ’em a 
bully night’s rest ; that’s all.” 

“ How’ll I know when it’s safe to come 
out? ” 

“ She says if anything happens not down on 
the books she’ll come past your hiding-place, 
and give two taps like this ” (tapping). “ In 
that case you’ll wait till you hear further.” 

“ You’ll be there to help, if I get caught? 
You won’t slump? ” 

“ Me? Never! Ain’t I always been a man 
of honour ? ” 

“ They say old Morton’s mighty game when 
once roused.” 

“ But he won’t be if we can help it ; in case 
he is, and shows fight, why then we’ll have 
to — ” 

The rest of the sentence was lost, and the 
two men departed. 


38 


jerry’s reward 


Poor Mrs. Peggy sat frozen to her chair in 
terror. What on earth could she do! Her 
husband was gone for the day. There was 
no chance for his return before six o’clock at 
least. 

“ Poor, useless body ! ” she exclaimed, “ the 
neighbours’ property in danger, their very lives 
threatened, a traitor in their midst, and me 
sitting here knowing it all, and not able to do 
anything ! ” 

She was so distressed at her helplessness that 
tears rolled down her thin cheeks. But soon 
she dried them and said, emphatically : 

“ There’s no avoiding it ; I must get word 
to Mrs. Morton ! ” 

She thought harder than she had ever done 
before in all her life; then, as if answering ob- 
jections, she said aloud : 

“ If I can’t get anybody to go for me, I will 
go myself.” 

She, poor soul, who had never moved un- 
aided for five long years, except to turn the 
wheels of her chair for a few yards in her 
little narrow room ! 

She rolled herself away from the fire toward 
the door. With a little difficulty she opened 


A STARTLING CONVERSATION 


39 


it, and peered out. Although she was warmly 
clad, the rush of cold air made her shiver, but 
she wrapped one of her shawls around her 
head and watched. 

No one passed. Twelve o’clock struck. In 
a few hours it would 
be too late. 

She sighed heav- 
ily. “ Would it be 
possible for me to 
wheel myself over 
the common and 
across the street ? 
Could I ever reach 
that great 
house alive?” 

She did 
not think 
the Mortons’ 
nurse knew 
her, though she remembered the woman dis- 
tinctly. 

Then a new difficulty occurred to her. 
“ Even if I succeed in making the journey, can 
I get private speech with the right persons ? ” 

She hesitated, then she added, bravely : 



40 


jerry’s reward 


“ Shame on me to think of giving up ! ” and 
throwing the door wide open, with a mighty 
effort she pushed her chair over the sill. 

It rolled down with a bump and on for a few 
feet until it was stopped by a sharp stone. 

It was only several inches from the door 
to the ground, nevertheless, the jar gave her 
so much pain that she nearly fainted. She lay 
still for some moments, more dead than alive. 

“ I must go ! I have cut off all way of re- 
turn now. Bumping down that step was one 
thing; getting back would be impossible.” 

But when she tried to go on, her weakness 
was so great that she could not make any 
progress. Her chair, wedged against the 
stone, was immovable. 

“ O God,” she prayed, “ I don’t know what 
to do now — help me ! ” 


CHAPTER VI. 


THE POLICE ARE SUMMONED 

“ Well, Mrs. Myer,” exclaimed a bright, 
chirpy voice right behind her, “ whoever would 
have thought of seeing you spry enough to be 
out-of-doors! Won’t mother be glad?” and 
there stood the eldest little Outcast, smiling 
broadly, and holding in her chubby hand a tin 
bucket, that Peggy had seen many a time 
before. 

“ You’ve come just in time, dear heart,” said 
the thankful Peggy. “ Do you think you could 
wheel me across the street ? ” 

“Across the street?” reiterated the girl. 
“ Won’t it tire you very much ? Let me go for 
you.” 

“ I fear you are too little for my business,” 
replied Peggy, and as she spoke the words a 
new idea for accomplishing her purpose en- 
tered her mind. “Stay, love; I’ll tell you 
41 


42 


jerry’s reward 


what you can do. Take me back to the house 
and you shall hear.” 

Miss Outcast did her best, and as the burden 
was not great and the chair rolled easily, after 
some bumping and shoving and pushing, Mrs. 
Myer found herself once more in her own 
room. 

And, as she got her breath, she said : “ Have 
you ever been to the river, dearie ? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” answered the child, “ father 
takes us down there every Sunday. We love 
to stand on the bridge and watch the water 
dashing against the piers. It’s such fun ; you 
can’t think.” 

“ Could you go there alone ? ” 

“ Course I could ; what do you want to 
know for ? ” 

“ Jerry is working there to-day, pet, and I 
have something important to tell him. If you 
can find your way to the mail-boat landing 
where he is helping to load up, and tell him to 
come to me right away, you’ll be doing a good 
action.” 

“ I wonder if mother will scold ? ” 

“ Tell her it was my doing, and if she will 
come hear my reasons she’ll be satisfied. You’ll 
hurry, won’t you, dear?” 


THE POLICE ARE SUMMONED 


43 


Miss Outcast promised, and, after repeating 
the message several times, started briskly off. 

The river and the mail-boat were reached 
without trouble, but to find Jerry was another 
matter. A long stream of porters carrying 
bags of something reached from the wharf 
to the boat. Their heads were concealed by 
the burden, and their bodies looked so much 
alike that the child was bewildered. 

She stood there, frightened and forlorn, 
almost forgetting why she had come, when 
Jerry himself caught sight of her. 

“ Why, little one,” he exclaimed, dropping 
his load, and coming toward her. “ What on 
earth are you doing here alone ? ” 

Miss Outcast felt happy once more; she 
beamed on him. “ Oh, Jerry, you are the very 
man I came to see; go home just as quick as 
ever you can to your wife.” 

“ Peggy, my Peggy! Is she worse?” and 
the poor fellow looked the anguish he felt. 

“ I don’t b’lieve she’s ’zackly worse,” said 
the child, feeling very big indeed, “ but she’s 
acting queer, and she’s got something ’portant 
on her mind and sent me for you.” 

Jerry waited to hear no more, but, seizing 


44 


jerry’s reward 


the child’s hand, started to run. Leaving her 
in her own street, he hurried on alone. 



His wife was watching for him, trembling 
and anxious. She was so relieved when he 
appeared that she burst into tears. 


THE POLICE ARE SUMMONED 


45 


He took her frail body in his arms : “ Why, 
Peggy, old girl, what has happened? Has 
anybody been hurting you ? ” 

At these tender words she controlled herself 
and told him all that had occurred. 

He was thunderstruck. “ The scoundrels ! ” 
he muttered. “ They surely wouldn’t dare — 
but rest easy, love. We’ll get ahead of them, 
never fear.” 

He thought deeply. “ The best thing, wife, 
is not to alarm the ladies, but to see Mr. Mor- 
ton himself. I’ll go to him as fast as I can.” 
But even in his haste he stopped to replenish 
the fire, settle Peggy’s pillows more comfort- 
ably, and warm some soup for her. 

Then he sought Mr. Morton’s office and 
asked to see him privately. 

Mr. Morton sent word that he was busy 
and did not wish to be disturbed. 

“ Tell him it’s a serious matter,” said Jerry. 

Upon receiving this message Mr. Morton 
invited him in, and, closing the door of the 
little private office where he was in the habit 
of holding confidential interviews with his 
clients, he prepared to listen with a bored air. 

“ I’m Jerry, sir,” the visitor began, “ Jerry 


46 


jerry’s reward 


Myer. You may not know me, sir, but I know 
you, and your children — they call me Paddy 
— ‘ Paddy on the Turnpike.’ ” 

“Oh, it’s Paddy, is it?” said Morton, re- 
membering. 

“Yes, sir; no, sir — that is, it’s Jerry, sir.” 

“Well, Jerry, be quick; what can I do for 
you this afternoon?” 

And Jerry began : 

“ You see, sir, my wife, being poorly, has 
to sit all the time indoors. Our little cottage 
is just across the street from your fine house, 
sir; next to the convent wall with only a bit 
of a passway between; and Peggy, she’s my 
wife, overheard two men, hiding there, talk- 
ing and planning as how they would rob you 
to-night and drug you, and there’s no telling 
what else besides.” 

“How is this?” cried Mr. Morton, “Pm 
to be robbed and drugged, am I ? ” and the 
great lawyer looked as if he thought the man 
was losing his wits. 

But Jerry began and told a straight tale; 
told it so circumstantially and truthfully that 
Mr. Morton, forced to believe it, was genu- 
inely alarmed. 


THE POLICE ARE SUMMONED 47 

He immediately summoned the police, and, 
after a rapid consultation, a plan was formed 
to capture the thieves. 

Jerry was to unlock the big iron gates in 
the convent wall, where the coal-carts were in 
the habit of driving in. Two of the police 
were to hide there, and keep an eye on the 
house opposite until they saw a burglar num- 
ber one admitted by the traitorous nurse-girl. 
Then they were to return at dark and guard 
the front of the house, so as to cut off all re- 
treat from that direction. Two more of the 
force were to hide in the Mortons’ stable, and 
prevent escape from the rear. Mr. Morton 
was to remain inside to avert suspicion and 
to give the alarm in case any violence was 
attempted. He was also to practise a little 
stratagem to prevent any of the family from 
drinking the drugged coffee. 

“ Don’t seem to do anything unusual,” coun- 
selled the chief. “ Go to bed, and pretend to 
sleep. Let them rob you, and when they come 
out we will take care of them and their booty.” 

“ And what am I to do, sir? ” asked Jerry. 

“You have done enough, man ; you go 


48 


JERRY S REWARD 


home and stay with your sick wife. She will 
be anxious if we expose you to danger.” 

You see, the officers wished to put both Mr. 
Morton and Jerry out of the affair, so that they 
could have all the glory of the capture. 


CHAPTER VII. 


WHERE WAS PEGGY? 

When told to go home to his sick wife, 
Jerry obeyed. But what was his surprise, on 
reaching his tiny cottage, to find the shutters 
all closed, though it was early afternoon, and 
the front door held fast on the outside by two 
great tenpenny nails. 

Where was Peggy? For the nailed door 
showed that she was not inside. To be sure, 
smoke was still coming out of the chimney, 
but this was accounted for when he remem- 
bered the big fire he had built before he left. 
Where, where was Peggy? 

Perhaps one of the neighbours had been 
kind enough to come over and, finding her 
frightened and alone, had wheeled her away. 
But reflection told him that not one of the 
neighbours had ever been near her except the 
Outcasts, and the discovery of the plot was 
49 


50 


jerry’s reward 


an absolute secret. There would be no occa- 
sion for such sudden neighbourliness. 

Then Jerry’s heart stood still, for he heard 
a sound like a muffled cry. It seemed to come 
from behind the convent wall; so he crept 
softly into the narrow passageway just as the 
burglars had done. Here he could see without 
being seen. 

At first everything was so still that he 
thought he must have imagined the cry, but 
soon heard the murmuring sound of voices 
so low that he could not tell whether of men 
or women. 

Jerry was frightened to death. If he alone 
had been in danger he would have been brave, 
but with his delicate wife away, he knew not 
where, and more conspiracies going on behind 
the convent wall, he found it hard to decide just 
what he ought to do. Conflicting feelings put 
him in a sort of panic, but he had sense enough 
left to keep absolutely still. 

Before going in search of his wife he must 
find out what new plan the rascals were hatch- 
ing, so he stood, hardly daring to breathe. 

The wind was sharp and keen. It swept 
across the wide common, whirling up the dust, 


WHERE WAS PEGGY ? 


51 


lifting the paper and rags and making them 
waltz. Ashes fell like rain in the narrow pas- 
sage where Jerry stood. Then a whooping 
gust caught a lot of stuff, and forming a minia- 
ture cyclone, headed straight for Jerry. Be- 
fore the poor fellow knew what he was doing, 
he had sneezed three times. The sound rever- 
berated through the close passage as if he had 
blown through a gigantic horn. 

Now he was lost! The men must do either 
one of two things ; they might think they had 
been discovered, and run away, but the proba- 
bility was that they would first look over the 
convent wall to find out who had sneezed. 
And then what? 

Jerry seized a large boulder that lay at his 
feet. Though little and old, he had good 
strength, and the first head that rose over the 
wall meant a cracked skull. 

“ Jerry, Jerry? ” He heard his name whis- 
pered by a strange voice. Where did the sound 
come from? Under his very feet. 

“ Jerry, Jer-ry,” a little louder, “ where are 
you?” 

“ Here behind the wall,” whispered Jerry. 
“ Who are you? ” 


52 


jerry’s reward 


Then there came a sound of steps, a window 
was raised, a shutter flung back. 

At this Jerry could stand no more. He left 
his hiding-place, and strode boldly, the big 
stone in his hand, to the front of his cottage 
in time to see a sturdy leg emerging from his 
front window. 

When the rest of the body followed, the 
mother of the little Outcasts stood before 
Jerry’s astonished eyes. 

“ For the land’s sake ! Are you the bur- 
glar? ” says Jerry. 

“ For the land’s sake, are you? ” asked Mrs. 
Outcast, and both began to laugh. 

“And where’s Peggy?” says Jerry. 

“ Inside with chattering teeth for fear of the 
men hid between the walls.” 

“ How, when, what ! ” exclaimed the bewil- 
dered man. 

“ Stop talking, man, and come to your 
scared wife.” 

“ I’m not scared now that I know who’s 
there,” piped a weak voice. “ Come in right 
away out of the cold.” 

“ And is it by the door or by the window 
ye’ll have me enter, Missis Myer?” asked 




“ A STURDY LEG EMERGING FROM HIS FRONT 

WINDOW.” 



WHERE WAS PEGGY? 


55 


Jerry. And with that he took out the two ten- 
penny nails with his fingers just as easy as 
if they had been put in by women. 

“ Wait till I unlock,” said Mrs. Outcast, as 
she climbed back, and presently the key turned, 
and Jerry was allowed to enter. 

“ And now, perhaps,” said he, after he had 
kissed his wife, “ ye’ll be kind enough to tell 
me what it all means, for I’ll be switched if 
I understand a word of it ! ” 

Mrs. Outcast explained : “When Mirny came 
home with her story I felt in my bones that 
something was wrong, so I came as fast as I 
could to help. I found this little body scared 
to death, and you gone for no knowing how 
long. When she told her story I felt real un- 
easy myself, and wanted to take her home with 
me where she’d be safe. But she was faint- 
like, and besides she said she did not want you 
to come back and find her gone, Heaven knows 
where.” 

Jerry pretended to cough behind his hand. 

“ But two women alone,” continued Mrs. 
Outcast, “ are not apt to be exactly quiet in 
their minds when burglars are about, so I 
suggested that we shut up the house as if no 


56 


jerry’s reward 


one were living here, and to make it seem 
more natural like, I put two nails in the door, 
and climbed in by the window.” 

“ Wasn’t it a smart trick?” asked Peggy, 
admiringly. 

“ The smartest I ever knew,” answered 
Jerry, promptly. “ But how was I to get in? ” 

“ Oh, we were listening,” said Peggy. 
“ Don’t you fear. We thought you would try 
the door and call, when we would know your 
voice and let you in.” 

“ Instead of which, you hid, and made us 
think them burglars had come back sure 
enough,” said Mrs. Outcast. 

“ And you screamed and whispered, and 
made me think them burglars were hurting 

Peggy-” 

And at this all three laughed until the tears 
rolled down their cheeks. 

Peggy was the first to quiet down. “ But 
tell us, love, what Mr. Morton said ? ” 

And Jerry unfolded all the plan — not with- 
out first going out-doors, and looking carefully 
all around his little cottage to see if any eaves- 
droppers were in hiding. When he concluded 
by repeating Mr. Morton’s order to go home 


WHERE WAS PEGGY ? 


5 7 


and stay with his sick wife, both women ex- 
claimed in a breath : 

“ What a nice, sensible gentleman Mr. Mor- 
ton is ! ” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


LUCK IN DISGUISE 

But it was not Jerry’s way to bide at home 
when such a dangerous adventure was afoot. 
The more he thought of it the more he was 
convinced he might be needed. 

“ Suppose there should be three of them 
burglars instead of two, and one of our men 
was to get hurt ; it would be a battle with odds 
and maybe escape for the rogues. No — I 
won’t get shoved aside; I’ll disobey orders, 
and play a game of my own.” 

Then the little man stationed himself be- 
hind the window-blind, although it was a good 
two hours before the time set by the thieves. 
It was well he did so, for at half-past four a 
man with a bundle rang the door-bell at the 
side entrance of the Morton house. 

“ He’s ahead of time,” said Jerry. “ I won- 
58 


LUCK IN DISGUISE 


59 


der if them p’lices are behind the convent 
gate?” 

The nurse-girl opened the door so quickly 
that she had evidently been on the watch. The 
man slipped in, and Jerry noted that he was 
big and brawny. 

“ It’s going to be a mean job to tackle that 
fellow,” he thought. Then he went to a pile 
of things in a corner, and selected a stout 
hickory stick. 

He watched awhile longer, but nothing else 
happened. It grew dark. He kissed Peggy, 
who held him tight a moment, looked into his 
eyes lovingly, but did not protest or cry, as 
some wives would have done. He waved his 
hand as he left the door, and, keeping close to 
the convent wall, crossed the common. Into 
the Mortons’ gate he slipped, and before any- 
one could say “ Jack Robinson ” he had crept 
under the steps of the side entrance. 

He carried his good stick. 

“ They’ll have pistols sure, and knives maybe, 
but give me a good whack with this at close 
range, and I’ll beat ’em, pistols and all. 

His position was cramped and uncomfort- 
able, but he did not care. He crouched into as 


6o 


JERRY S REWARD 


small a space as possible. The time seemed 
long, but he never thought of giving up; he 
was there to stay. 

The convent bell tolled the hours : eight, nine, 
ten. Then a step, soft and slow on the pave- 
ment, and he saw two feet. Another step as 
noiseless as a wild beast’s; and he saw two 
more feet. 

Jerry was right. There were three men in- 
stead of two — one inside, two out. 

Presently came whispered words too low for 
him to catch, and he heard a bolt cautiously 
slipped. 

One pair of feet disappeared ; the other pair 
remained. This fellow on the outside would 
prevent the police from surprising the two 
within. Should Jerry tackle the watching 
burglar now or wait? 

“ I wonder how many more of them there 
are?” thought Jerry, as he took firm hold of his 
club, and eyed the waiting feet, scarcely daring 
to breathe. 

In the meantime, the police stationed back 
and front had seen the two men arrive and one 
enter; but, not having reached the convent 
gate early enough, they did not know that a 


LUCK IN DISGUISE 


6 1 


third man was within. They kept guard and 
thought they had a sure thing of nabbing the 
burglars as they emerged with their spoils. 

Then suddenly the stillness of the hour was 
broken by the loud report of a pistol not half 
a square away. All the policemen rushed in 
the direction of the sound, and saw a man flee- 
ing in the distance. Two of them pursued 
him, blowing their whistles as they ran. The 
other two stopped to argue whether they had 
better help their comrades or return to their 
former hiding-place. 

But while they talked an exciting scene had 
occurred. As soon as the shot was fired the 
thief on the outside made a break for the gate. 
Jerry started after him, but the rogue jumped 
the fence, and ran off, so, not to waste time in 
a fruitless chase, the crooked little old man 
turned back to find himself confronted by two 
more fugitives. For the shot on the outside 
was a prearranged warning of danger, and 
as soon as the burglars on the inside heard it, 
they rushed from the house with their booty. 

They, too, were about to jump the fence 
when Jerry, wondering what the police were 
doing, and desperate at the idea of all three 


62 


jerry’s reward 


of the rascals eluding them, sprang at them 
brandishing his club and yelling like a dozen 
Comanche Indians. 

At the same time Mr. Morton appeared at 
the door with a shot-gun, and the burglars, 
thinking they had twenty foes instead of two, 
began a fight for life. 

Mr. Morton stood framed in the doorway 
with a bright light behind him. The man 
nearest Jerry, the same strapping fellow who 
had entered in the afternoon, raised his arm, 
and there was a flash of metal as he took steady 
aim at Mr. Morton’s breast. Another instant, 
and ten little children would have been father- 
less; but a resounding whack from a hickory 
stick sent a shot into the air, and the hand 
that held the pistol dropped, nerveless. The 
would-be murderer tottered a few steps, then 
fell in a heap on the grass. 

The remaining burglar, seeing that the game 
was up, dropped his plunder, and started to 
run. But, as luck would have it, he ran 
straight into the arms of the two policemen, 
who were returning to the spot they ought 
never to have quitted ; and the policemen, not 
being able to get away, could not help making 
him their prisoner. 


LUCK IN DISGUISE 


63 


The same luck befriended the other two 
officers; for, coming back from a fruitless 
chase of the man who had fired the decoying 
shot, they fortunately were in time to capture 
the man who had jumped the fence, and were 
heroes among their fellows for nine days after. 

The commotion had roused the whole neigh- 
bourhood. Windows were raised by fright- 
ened women, and half-dressed men ran into 
the street. Lights were quickly brought, and 
an excited crowd gathered round the prisoners, 
talking and asking a thousand questions. 

The two men were handcuffed, and were 
about being carried off when a dark object on 
the grass attracted attention. A man, alive 
but unable to move. “Who is he?” “How 
did he get there ? ” Everybody surprised ex- 
cepting Jerry. 

“ I beg your pardon, sirs,” said the old fel- 
low. “ Please excuse me, sirs,” — turning 
humbly from one to another, — “ but I had to 
do it. He was going to shoot, and I couldn’t 
stand that, sirs, so I just tapped him a bit 
with my friendly stick.” 

“ And that isn’t half,” interrupted Mr. 
Morton. “ If it had not been for the stout arm 


64 


jerry’s reward 


of this brave old man I would be dead. See 
that pistol on the ground? It was aimed at 



me when Jerry’s club knocked the breath out 
of the scoundrel lying beside it.” 

While her husband was speaking, Mrs. Mor- 


LUCK IN DISGUISE 


65 


ton had appeared, and, on hearing his words, 
she went up to the crooked little man. Around 
his tanned and wrinkled neck went her white 
arms, and with the tears streaming she sobbed : 

“ You brave, brave soldier ! His children 
and their mother will love and bless you as 
long as they live ! ” 

Jerry was so ashamed that he knew not 
where to look when, fortunately, the patrol 
wagon drove up, and the public attention was 
diverted by the removal of the wounded man 
and the prisoners to jail. He seized the oppor- 
tunity to escape, and hurried across the common 
to his little cottage. 

There his Peggy awaited him. In those 
arms he was never ashamed; to her he was 
always a hero; and as, listening to his story, 
she gazed at him with eyes overflowing with 
tenderness, he felt that the earth could not 
contain a happier man than Jerry Myer. 


CHAPTER IX. 

PADDY MAKES THE EFFORT OF HIS LIFE 

To make up for lost time Jerry hurried early 
to his work the next morning. He had fin- 
ished his duties at the convent, and was on 
his way to the wharf when he met Mr. Mor- 
ton, who stopped to shake hands and inquire 
how Peggy had stood the fright. Naturally 
they talked over the night’s adventure. 

Mr. Morton had several items of news, for 
the nurse had been arrested, and had made a 
full confession. If successful, the robbery was 
to have been the prelude for more in the 
same neighbourhood. It had been carefully 
planned by a gang of professional thieves. 
The pistol-shot had been fired by a confederate 
not only to inform the burglars that they had 
been discovered, but to decoy the police from 
the scene of action so that the thieves could 
make their escape. 

66 


L.ofC. 


PADDY MAKES THE EFFORT OF HIS LIFE 67 

“ They did not count on your big stick, 
Jerry. Had it not been for you, every man of 
them would have gotten away.” 

“ Sure they wouldn’t, sir. Some of them 
would have been caught. But them p’lices are 
curious creeters. Now if I already had as 
many thieves on my hands as I could well look 
after, it never would have entered my head to 
go on a wild-goose chase after others. There’s 
no accountin’ for them p’lices’ minds, anyway. 
And as for their bodies — well, did you ever 
see one that was not that fat that any thief at 
all couldn’t outrun ? ” 

Mr. Morton laughed. “ I suppose they get 
them that way so they will stay where they are 
put.” 

“ And so they can’t run away from the 
thieves,” added Jerry. “ Now for all that I’m 
crooked, being thin, I’m nimble.” 

“ Indeed you are ; and furthermore, you 
have such good judgment that you saved the 
battle last night.” 

“ I didn’t mean that,” cried Jerry, in distress 
and embarrassment. “ Nobody could have 
done any less than I did.” 

“ You mean any more, man. To my dying 


68 


jerry’s reward 


day I shall never forget what I owe you nor the 
sound of the whack of that stick. But, see here, 
Jerry, you are not going to the wharf to-day? ” 

“ Please, sir, I have to.” 

“ No, you don’t. You are getting old, and 
ought not to work so hard. My wife and I 
have been making inquiries, and we know all 
about you and your sick wife. How would 
you like to be janitor in the building where I 
have my office? ” 

“ I’d like it, sir, if you think I’d suit. Are 
they needing a new man ? ” 

“ I heard only yesterday the present man 
had given notice, and I promised to be on the 
lookout for a new one. I think the place 
would suit you, and you it — it pays a fair 
salary.” And here Mr. Morton named a sum 
that seemed so large to poor Jerry that his 
eyes nearly popped out of his head. 

“ Ah, I never could be worth all that, sir ! 
But what a great thing it would be for 
Peggy ! ” And visions of unburnt coal in large 
lumps and real feather pillows and other luxu- 
ries for his suffering wife passed through his 
mind. 

“ I am sure you can fill the position ad- 


PADDY MAKES THE EFFORT OF HIS LIFE 69 

mirably, and the salary is not half so large as 
you deserve. Come along and we will apply 
without loss of time.” 

Applying was a mere form, as Mr. Morton’s 
recommendation was enough. The new jani- 
tor was engaged, and promised to enter upon 
his duties as soon as the convent could find 
a man to take his place. 

Before this happened, Jefferson Square ex- 
perienced a complete upsetting. All the chil- 
dren were summoned to meet in Mrs. Morton’s 
long drawing-room, and came trooping to see 
what was wanted : the Earlys, the Rickersons, 
the Bakers, the Longs, the Adamses, the Mor- 
ton children themselves, and, last of all, Mrs. 
Outcast with Mirny and the six other little 
Outcasts trailing behind. You may be sure 
none of them were late. 

The curiosity of the children was roused 
to its highest pitch. They couldn’t imagine 
what kind of a party it was going to be with 
chairs in rows like church. And when they 
were all seated Mrs. Morton looked so serious, 
that Addy Gravvy whispered to his neighbour, 
“ I know — .it’s a funeral.” 

Then Mrs. Morton made them a long speech. 


70 


jerry’s reward 


She told a story of a worthy old man working 
from morning till night to provide the barest 
necessities for his sick wife; she told of that 
wife’s patience, of her cruel accident and suf- 
fering, of her devotion to her husband; she 
repeated the story of the way both of them had 
risked their lives to save the property of neigh- 
bours who barely knew of their existence. 
Then she drew a picture of twenty-one thought- 
less little imps, jibing and jeering the hard- 
working man who was worth all the rest of the 
square put together — fathers and mothers in- 
cluded — and by the time she reached this 
point all twenty-one of the imps, and seven 
others who were not imps, were boohooing 
and bellowing in a way that was a caution. 

“ What are we going to do about it, chil- 
dren ? ” asked Mrs. Morton. 

Each was for making amends in some way, 
and all blubbered out at once, but one — I 
think it was Henry Clay — cried louder than 
the rest: 

“ Le’s go over, and tell ’em how sorry we 
are, and how we’ll never make fun of him 
again as long as we live.” 

This sentiment met with enthusiastic ap- 


PADDY MAKES THE EFFORT OF HIS LIFE Jl 

proval, and they were all for rushing to the 
cottage in a body when Mrs. Morton stopped 
them. 

“Wait, children; it would never do to 
startle the invalid with such a crowd. One of 
you must first go and ask Mrs. Myer when it 
will be convenient for her to see us. Who shall 
it be?” 

And strange to say, every chick and child 
called out the same name right away. Can 
you guess whose it was ? 

Little Miss Outcast. 

In a short time Mirny returned with the 
word that Mrs. Myer would love to see the 
children at any and all times, but they must 
be sure to come while Jerry was at home, as 
he would be so pleased. 

“ An’ I didn’t tell her a word of what we 
are going to say,” reported Mirny. 

The time was discussed, and the following 
day at noon was selected. Then some highly 
important arrangements were made ; and after 
every last one had been pledged to secrecy the 
meeting adjourned. 

During the next twenty-four hours Jefferson 
Square resembled an ant-hill after a big boy 


72 


jerry’s reward 


has trod on it. Such rushing around and 
talking in excited groups; such goings out 
and comings in; such wagons colliding at 
front doors leaving bulky parcels; such er- 
rand boys breathless with carrying huge 
bundles! The like was never seen before. 

Mrs. Myer from her window across the com- 
mon did not know what to make of it. She 
thought at first that every one of her rich 
neighbours must be going to give a party; 
though after reflection she decided that this 
could not be, for if all of them were having 
parties, who would be left to come to them? 
She was very much at sea. 

As the silver tones of the convent bell said 
it was twelve o’clock, a gay procession formed 
on the sidewalk in front of the Mortons’. 
First came the little children, and each carried 
something : shoes, stockings, socks, flannels — 
all of the very best quality. Next came the 
middle-sized ones with blankets, sheets, and 
real feather pillows. Then the biggest ones 
with china, glass, earthenware, and all such 
things. After them followed the nurses, car- 
rying the babies, and each baby had a gold 
coin clasped tight in its little fat hand. Then 



THE BABIES 














































. 





■ 










’ 








* 

. 










PADDY MAKES THE EFFORT OF HIS LIFE 75 

the mothers, trying to keep the gang in order, 
brought dresses, shawls, and warm winter 
clothes. The children wore their best clothes 
and their freshest ribbons, and could not keep 
in place for a single minute. 

The weather was built on purpose. It had 
been winter and it was going to be winter, but 
somehow one little spring day, balmy and fine, 
slipped in for the occasion. The poor people 
around got wind of the affair, and streamed 
over the common. Even the Penitents climbed 
the back wall of the convent and sat on top of 
the broken bottles to see the show. Only the 
nuns went on as if nothing were happening — 
telling their beads and singing their Ave 
Marias in ignorance of worldly events, as all 
good nuns should be. 

Then Mrs. Morton gave the signal, and the 
children clasped hands, and marched across 
the common, singing at the tops of their lungs. 
To Peggy and Jerry, drawn to the window by 
the commotion, it was the sweetest sound they 
had ever heard since the voices of their dear 
little babes had been hushed. 

Nearer and nearer they came, the little Out- 
casts, in the post of honour, leading. They did 


76 


jerry’s reward 


not have anything to be sorry for, but every- 
body wanted them and they wanted to come. 
They crowded into the door of the cottage, and 
nearly buried the aged couple with gifts, — all 
of them talking at once, but Peggy and Jerry 

Each child came up and, shaking the worthy 
couple by the hand, promised never to be 
thoughtless and wicked again. 

After this ceremony, Jerry, overcoming his 
shyness, made the effort of his life. He 
thanked the children and their parents in a 
speech that Peggy afterward described as be- 
ing “ just too beautiful, winding up as it did 
with real poetry made up mostly from his 
own head.” 

And she told the truth. The old fellow had 
a roguish twinkle in his gray eye as, pointing 
to the piles of blankets and pillows, he said : 

“ Though Paddy on the Turnpike 
Could never count eleven, 

When children all brought feather beds 
He an’ Peggy tho’t they was in Heaven.” 


THE END. 


COSY CORNER SERIES 


It is the intention of the publishers that this series shall 
contain only the very highest and purest literature, — 
stories that shall not only appeal to the children them- 
selves, but be appreciated by all those who feel with 
them in their joys and sorrows, — stories that shall be 
most particularly adapted for reading aloud in the 
family circle. 

The numerous illustrations in each book are by well- 
known artists, and each volume has a separate attract- 
ive cover design. 

Each, i vol., i6mo, cloth $0.50 

By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON 

The Little Colonel. 

The scene of this story is laid in Kentucky. Its 
heroine is a small girl, who is known as the Little 
Colonel, on account of her fancied resemblance to an 
old-school Southern gentleman, whose fine estate and 
old family are famous in the region. This old Colonel 
proves to be the grandfather of the child. 

The Giant Scissors. 

This is the story of Joyce and of her adventures in 
France, — the wonderful house with the gate of The 
Giant Scissors, Jules, her little playmate, Sister Denisa, 
the cruel Brossard, and her dear Aunt Kate. Joyce is 
a great friend of the Little Colonel, and in later volumes 
shares with her the delightful experiences of the “ House 
Party ” and the “ Holidays.” 


2 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON (Continued) 

Two Little Knights of Kentucky, 

Who Were the Little Colonel’s Neighbors. 

In this volume the Little Colonel returns to us like an 
old friend, but with added grace and charm. She is 
not, however, the central figure of the story, that place 
being taken by the “ two little knights,” Malcolm and 
Keith, little Southern aristocrats, whose chivalrous na- 
tures lead them through a series of interesting adven- 
tures. 

Cicely and Other Stories for Girls. 

The readers of Mrs. Johnston’s charming juveniles 
will be glad to learn of the issue of this volume for 
young people, written in the author’s sympathetic and 
entertaining manner. 

Big Brother. 

A story of two boys. The devotion and care of 
Steven, himself a small boy, for his baby brother, is the 
theme of the simple tale, the pathos and beauty of 
which has appealed to so many thousands. 

Ole Mammy’s Torment. 

“Ole Mammy’s Torment” has been fitly called “a 
classic of Southern life.” It relates the haps and mis- 
haps of a small negro lad, and tells how he was led by 
love and kindness to a knowledge of the right. 

The Story of Dago. 

In this story Mrs. Johnston relates the story of Dago, 
a pet monkey, owned jointly by two brothers. Dago 
tells his own story, and the account of his haps and mis- 
haps is both interesting and amusing. 


COSY CORNER SERIES 


3 


By EDITH ROBINSON 

A Little Puritan’s First Christmas : 

A Story of Colonial Times in Boston. 

A story of Colonial times in Boston, telling how 
Christmas was invented by Betty Sewall, a typical child 
of the Puritans, aided by her “ unregenerate ” brother, 
Sam. 

A Little Daughter of Liberty. 

The author’s motive for this story is well indicated 
by a quotation from her introduction, as follows : 

“ One ride is memorable in the early history of the 
American Revolution, the well-known ride of Paul 
Revere. Equally deserving of commendation is another 
ride, — untold in verse or story, its records preserved 
only in family papers or shadowy legend, the ride of 
Anthony Severn was no less historic in its action or 
memorable in its consequences.” 

A Loyal Little Haiti. 

A delightful and interesting story of Revolutionary 
days, in which the child heroine, Betsey Schuyler, 
renders important services to George Washington and 
Alexander Hamilton, and in the end becomes the wife of 
the latter. 

A Little Puritan Rebel. 

Like Miss Robinson’s successful story of “ A Loyal 
Little Maid,” thjs is another historical tale of a real girl, 
during the time when the gallant Sir Harry Vane was 
governor of Massachusetts. 

A Little Puritan Pioneer. 

The scene of this story is laid in the Puritan settle- 
ment at Charlestown. The little girl heroine adds 
another to the list of favorites so well known to the 
young people in “ A Little Puritan Rebel,” etc. 


4 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY’S 


By OUIDA (Louise de la RamSe ) 

A Dog of Flanders : A Christmas Story. 
Too well and favorably known to require description. 

The Niirnberg Stove. 

This beautiful story has never before been published 
at a popular price. 

A Provence Rose. 

A story perfect in sweetness and in grace. 

Findelkind. 

A charming story about a little Swiss herdsman. 

By MISS MULOCK 

The Little Lame Prince. 

A delightful story of a little boy who has many adven- 
tures by means of the magic gifts of his fairy godmother. 

Adventures of a Brownie. 

The story of a household elf who torments the cook 
and gardener, but is a constant joy and delight to the 
children who love and trust him. 

His Little Mother. 

Miss Mulock’s short stories for children are a constant 
source of delight to them, and “ His Little Mother,” in 
this new and attractive dress, will be welcomed by hosts 
of youthful readers. 

Little Sunshine’s Holiday. 

An attractive story of a summer outing. “ Little Sun- 
shine ” is another of those beautiful child-characters for 
which Miss Mulock is so justly famous. 





may 3 1 1903 


may 31 ,90? 


1 COPY DEL. TO CAT. DIV. 
WAY 31 1902 

JUN. 4 ]902 ' 
















